A King's Continent
by Royal Coat
Summary: Just a moment, a simple one, in a long road trip.


King was jolted awake by a soft bump and was kept awake by the feeling of motion.

Where were they now?

The corgi waited a moment before opening his eyes just a bit, only to wince and blink for a moment against the afternoon sun.

They seemed to be somewhere in the Midwest. A more precise location eluded him. Granted, endless fields of corn were not the most iconic of landmarks. It all blurred together as it bolted by anyway.

The small dog yawned deeply, sticking his snout off to the side. He was met with a glorious breath of fresh air that whipped through his fur. He tilted back just in time to hear his companions words.

"I take it you're awake now, Chess?"

King looked up and left at the tall form gripping the handle bars beside him.

"Yep. Sorry for dropping off. I didn't mean to leave you without someone to talk to." He resisted the urge to rub at his eyes. Not only was he wearing goggles that would prevent it, but she would tease him endlessly about how cute he looking when he did that waking up.

"Not a worry. You said you didn't sleep so well. I thought you could use the nap."

There was a silence between the two for a moment, before she tore her eyes from the road and cast him a glance.

"You want to talk about it?"

The corgi was about to answer, but paused as he looked up at her. The bright teal in of her eyes seemed to bore into him with care and concern. There wasn't any admonishment there.

But he felt like there should have been. They had been together for years, of course, and he had long ago come to terms with loving her. Yet it bothered him that he was keeping one secret, his greatest secret, from her. He had ignored it for a long time, but every so often it gave him sleepless nights. What could he tell her?

"Not really."

The whole exchange took only a moment, but he caught the look in her eye, the slight twitch of her jaw. He knew her well enough, after several years, to know that this was hurting her. And he hated to be the source of that.

He looked downcast for a moment, then chanced another glance up at her. To his surprise, her set jaw was replaced by a gentle smirk.

"Wanna see something cool, Chess?"

Before King could say anything one way or another, Bailey gunned the engine. Pinned back to his seat, the poor corgi could only watch as the ground seemed to disappear. His eyes grew wide, but any sound we wanted to make was stolen by the sudden absence of gravity.

A heartbeat and half a century later, several wheels crashed back to the roadway. The contact sent a tremor through the side car and motorcycle both. The taller dog struggled for a moment, but pulled it back under control.

King suddenly became aware that he was clutching the sidecar with all the strength he had. He also appeared to be unable to speak beyond a squeak. Loosening his grip was easy enough, but doing the same for his vocal cords proved to be slightly more difficult.

"Er... I.. Ah..."

Bailey eyed him with a confident smile, though her shaky breathing betrayed her recovery.

"What? I catch your tongue? Give you some gray fur?"

A snarky rebuttal proved to be just the thing to un-paralyze the corgi. With a chuckle, he responded:

"You're one to talk! I'm no worse off than you!"

The taller dog made a slightly sour face, taking an exaggerated look down at herself. Responding only a few seconds later.

"I'd have to say your right... but this here is all natural, one hundred percent, farm dog. And you love it." The last words were playfully pointed as she looked over at the corgi. While she spoke, the lady dog made a long motion with one paw, showing off her body.

King's mouth curled into a smile, catching her eyes. They locked onto one another in only the way that long held love can.

"So I do. And I don't think there's anyway I could love you less, mind OR body." He waggled his eyebrows for effect.

Bailey graced him with a small laugh, the kind that was simple, telling him that he had hit the mark just right. If not for her covered ears, he would probably see her blushing. It was something that had come better to him, over time, an ability to be open, to catch her off guard. He found it most enjoyable.

There was a brief moment of electricity between the two, eyes locked tight to each other. Then King's eyes went wide and fearful, the oppisite teal orbs looked confused for a moment, then realization dawned. The both turned to face forward just in time to see the road curve off to their right, and a small pond race up to meet them.

Having slowed significantly from inattention, the bike wedged itself on a rock with a loud bang, nearly throwing Bailey over the handlebars. King, on the other paw, was not so lucky. He was thrown out of the side-car and went head over paw into the drink, accompanied by a strangled yelp.

"King!"

Bailey tore the helmet off of her head and launched herself at the water. She paddled around for only a moment before the corgi surfaced, helmet-less, sputtering. He gave her a look of annoyance.

She ignored it. Instead she swept him into a bone crushing hug.

"I'm sorry! We could have been...!"

She could barely begin before King cut her off.

"Mind not squeezing so hard? I can't breath..." He said with a little strain. As she relaxed, he continued. "And your making it hard for me to be mad at you anyway."

"Oh? And why is that?"

The smaller dog leaned closer, despite the water.

"It's been my little secret... but you smell even better with wet fur." He whispered to her.

The farm dog instantly went beet red and began to stammer a little. King took advantage of the moment to plant a deep kiss on her, before starting back to shore.

Bailey lingered, sure that the water would boil from the heat radiating from her face. She recovered into a sly grin, and whispered to herself:

"Oh... You're a charmer Chess. Let's see if that goes both ways..."

The taller dog made faster strides for the shore, and was there waiting for the corgi on his arrival. And as to what transpired, well, that's for them to know and for you to imagine.


End file.
